Complete List of Discharge Options

Teacher Loan Forgiveness

You may be eligible for Teacher Loan Forgiveness of up to $17,500 if

• you teach full time for five complete and consecutive academic years in a low-income elementary school, secondary school, or educational service agency, and
• you have a Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loan.

Note: You can’t receive credit toward Teacher Loan Forgiveness and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) for the same period of teaching.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

If you’re employed by a government or not-for-profit organization, you might be eligible for the PSLF Program. The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance of your eligible Direct Loans

• after you’ve made the equivalent of 120 qualifying monthly payments under an accepted repayment plan, and
• while working full time for an eligible employer. 

Find out more about Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Temporary Expanded Public Servicer Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) at StudentAid.gov/publicservice.

To be considered for PSLF, you only need to submit a PSLF form. The easiest way to do this is by using the PSLF Help Tool. The PSLF Help Tool allows you to:

• use the PSLF Employer Search to see if your employer qualifies for PSLF, 
• request that your employer’s PSLF Program eligibility be reviewed if not already in the database, 
• prepare and sign your PSLF form, and electronically request certification and signature form your employer, or 
• generate your PSLF form for manual signature and submission if electronic submission is not possible.

You may also access the PSLF form through the StudentAid.gov Forms Library.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

If you’re employed by a government or not-for-profit organization, you might be eligible for the PSLF Program. The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance of your eligible Direct Loans

• after you’ve made the equivalent of 120 qualifying monthly payments under an accepted repayment plan, and
• while working full time for an eligible employer. 

Find out more about Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Temporary Expanded Public Servicer Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) at StudentAid.gov/publicservice.

To be considered for PSLF, you only need to submit a PSLF form. The easiest way to do this is by using the PSLF Help Tool. The PSLF Help Tool allows you to:

• use the PSLF Employer Search to see if your employer qualifies for PSLF, 
• request that your employer’s PSLF Program eligibility be reviewed if not already in the database, 
• prepare and sign your PSLF form, and electronically request certification and signature form your employer, or 
• generate your PSLF form for manual signature and submission if electronic submission is not possible.

You may also access the PSLF form through the StudentAid.gov Forms Library.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

If you’re employed by a government or not-for-profit organization, you might be eligible for the PSLF Program. The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance of your eligible Direct Loans

• after you’ve made the equivalent of 120 qualifying monthly payments under an accepted repayment plan, and
• while working full time for an eligible employer. 

Find out more about Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Temporary Expanded Public Servicer Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) at StudentAid.gov/publicservice.

To be considered for PSLF, you only need to submit a PSLF form. The easiest way to do this is by using the PSLF Help Tool. The PSLF Help Tool allows you to:

• use the PSLF Employer Search to see if your employer qualifies for PSLF, 
• request that your employer’s PSLF Program eligibility be reviewed if not already in the database, 
• prepare and sign your PSLF form, and electronically request certification and signature form your employer, or 
• generate your PSLF form for manual signature and submission if electronic submission is not possible.

You may also access the PSLF form through the StudentAid.gov Forms Library.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

If you’re employed by a government or not-for-profit organization, you might be eligible for the PSLF Program. The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance of your eligible Direct Loans

• after you’ve made the equivalent of 120 qualifying monthly payments under an accepted repayment plan, and
• while working full time for an eligible employer. 

Find out more about Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Temporary Expanded Public Servicer Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) at StudentAid.gov/publicservice.

To be considered for PSLF, you only need to submit a PSLF form. The easiest way to do this is by using the PSLF Help Tool. The PSLF Help Tool allows you to:

• use the PSLF Employer Search to see if your employer qualifies for PSLF, 
• request that your employer’s PSLF Program eligibility be reviewed if not already in the database, 
• prepare and sign your PSLF form, and electronically request certification and signature form your employer, or 
• generate your PSLF form for manual signature and submission if electronic submission is not possible.

You may also access the PSLF form through the StudentAid.gov Forms Library.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

If you’re employed by a government or not-for-profit organization, you might be eligible for the PSLF Program. The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance of your eligible Direct Loans

• after you’ve made the equivalent of 120 qualifying monthly payments under an accepted repayment plan, and
• while working full time for an eligible employer. 

Find out more about Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Temporary Expanded Public Servicer Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) at StudentAid.gov/publicservice.

To be considered for PSLF, you only need to submit a PSLF form. The easiest way to do this is by using the PSLF Help Tool. The PSLF Help Tool allows you to:

• use the PSLF Employer Search to see if your employer qualifies for PSLF, 
• request that your employer’s PSLF Program eligibility be reviewed if not already in the database, 
• prepare and sign your PSLF form, and electronically request certification and signature form your employer, or 
• generate your PSLF form for manual signature and submission if electronic submission is not possible.

You may also access the PSLF form through the StudentAid.gov Forms Library.

Total and Permanent Disability Discharge

You may qualify for a total and permanent disability discharge of your federal student loans and/or your Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant* service obligation if

• you’re totally and permanently disabled, and
• you have a Direct Loan, Federal Family Education Loan (FFELP) Program loan, or Perkins Loan.

*TEACH Grant service obligations are discharged if the grant recipient dies, or if the recipient is subject to extended periods of qualifying military service.

You may be eligible for income-driven repayment (IDR) loan forgiveness if you have been in repayment for 20 or 25 years.

An IDR plan bases your monthly payment on your income and family size. If you repay your loans under an IDR plan, any remaining balance on your student loans will be forgiven after you make a certain number of payments over 20 or 25 years. Past periods of repayment, deferment, and forbearance might now count toward IDR forgiveness because of the one-time IDR adjustment that will occur in 2024. Borrowers with certain non-Direct loans may need to take action by the end of 2023 to benefit from this adjustment.

In summer 2023, we began implementing the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, which is our most affordable repayment plan ever. Borrowers who have signed up for the current REPAYE plan will be automatically enrolled in SAVE.

If you’re already on an IDR plan, check to see if you’re on the REPAYE Plan by logging in to StudentAid.gov and going to your My Aid page. There, you can scroll down and view your loans. Each loan will list a repayment plan. If you see that you’re in the REPAYE Plan, you’ll automatically be enrolled in the SAVE Plan.

If you’re on a different repayment plan, you’ll need to switch into REPAYE now, or SAVE once it’s available, to receive the benefits of the SAVE Plan. If you don’t have a StudentAid.gov account, you can create an account.

Note: If you have Parent PLUS loans, you must consolidate your loans to become eligible for an IDR plan.